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Don't make me drag Korean restaurants back into this thread. Or Vietnamese or Indian, or a dozen other types. Not only is cooking your own food tastier and better for you, but eating out can also be healthy and delicious without sacrificing speed or thrift.

Don't make me drag Korean restaurants back into this thread. Or Vietnamese or Indian, or a dozen other types. Not only is cooking your own food tastier and better for you, but eating out can also be healthy and delicious without sacrificing speed or thrift.

What about Korean restaurants? I am about to spend a year there and all I have heard about is congealed cow blood soup and eating lobsters with the shell.

Some of the best food I've ever eaten in my life is stuff I made myself with an eye towards health. I pity people who think fast food is amazingly delicious.

And I pity people that have never been to a great mom and pop fast food joint. There really is amazingly delicious fast food out there, you just have to avoid the major chains to have a chance at finding it.

On a different note, I had some steeped snake wine in China back in 2001. It had an odd greenish tint to what otherwise looked like a white wine, had a strength more akin to drinking gasoline than wine, and I must admit that I found all of the scales floating in my glass a bit disconcerting. Still, it was potable, if only barely.

Ketar on October 2009

Sometimes our strengths lie beneath the surface - far beneath, in some cases - but I'm sure there's more to Ketar than meets the eye!

People have this idea that cooking is hard, and they can't do it, and it takes longer, and eating healthy is expensive, and it doesn't taste as good. It's all misperception.

Now, now, let's not go assuming that "Everyone can cook as well as me, and if they can't, well fuck them it's up to them to learn how."

For my first three years in college, I didn't have a kitchen. I had a toaster oven and a rice cooker sitting on the counter next to my sink. I've remedied that since then.

There are times where eating healthy does take significantly longer if you want to eat the same things. Not everyone likes the same things (for example, I pretty much don't like brownies ever, home made or store bought, but that's because I've conditioned myself not to eat sweets 90% of the time).

Though I wouldn't dispute that healthier food does not have to taste bad. My mother was, and is, a healthy-food freak of sorts. And while some if it just wasn't all that good, some of it was very good, and it was all very healthy.

Don't make me drag Korean restaurants back into this thread. Or Vietnamese or Indian, or a dozen other types. Not only is cooking your own food tastier and better for you, but eating out can also be healthy and delicious without sacrificing speed or thrift.

What about Korean restaurants? I am about to spend a year there and all I have heard about is congealed cow blood soup and eating lobsters with the shell.

Korean food is the greatest food. Doesn't help that the average main at the places in Koreatown is $6.50 flat and they're all served with 5+ free sides (of which you can ask for more, no charge). Korean BBQs are also delightful and cheap.

Here are two recent examples of food I actually bought from a Korean restaurant:

$6.50

$6.00

Yes, the container the soup was in is larger than my 32oz. Star Wars Slurpee cup. Six bucks flat.

They have other things like bulgogi that are really nice. But be prepared for spicy foods and a lot of kimchi (which is somewhat of an acquired taste, but it's really good for you). They eat kimchi with every meal.

But, then again, I've had authentic Korean food and my experience with authentic chinese food is rather limited.

Authentic Chinese food is indeed way different.

And also super good.

It's a toughie, that one.

Well I've been to a few "authentic" chinese food places in chinatown that served some pretty awesome cantonese food. But my friend who studied in Beijing said that regular food she experienced was rather boring. Lots of rice and fish sauces and stuff.

But, then again, I've had authentic Korean food and my experience with authentic chinese food is rather limited.

Authentic Chinese food is indeed way different.

And also super good.

It's a toughie, that one.

Well I've been to a few "authentic" chinese food places in chinatown that served some pretty awesome cantonese food. But my friend who studied in Beijing said that regular food she experienced was rather boring. Lots of rice and fish sauces and stuff.

There's about a thousand different kinds of Chinese food. I'm a big fan of Sichuan food, which is normally really goddamn spicy. But every place has their own thing.

Don't make me drag Korean restaurants back into this thread. Or Vietnamese or Indian, or a dozen other types. Not only is cooking your own food tastier and better for you, but eating out can also be healthy and delicious without sacrificing speed or thrift.

What about Korean restaurants? I am about to spend a year there and all I have heard about is congealed cow blood soup and eating lobsters with the shell.

Korean food is the greatest food. Doesn't help that the average main at the places in Koreatown is $6.50 flat and they're all served with 5+ free sides (of which you can ask for more, no charge). Korean BBQs are also delightful and cheap.

Here are two recent examples of food I actually bought from a Korean restaurant:

$6.50

$6.00

Yes, the container the soup was in is larger than my 32oz. Star Wars Slurpee cup. Six bucks flat.

They have other things like bulgogi that are really nice. But be prepared for spicy foods and a lot of kimchi (which is somewhat of an acquired taste, but it's really good for you). They eat kimchi with every meal.

I've long since grown bored of the normal Chinese food you find most of the time. About the only things that get me excited are good Sichuan or Schezwan or however they choose to spell it dishes. That shit should be spicy, but most of the time it's almost indistinguishable from whatever other MSG sauce they're poring over their noodles. Meh.

But we've got a lot of oldschool Koreans in town that like their Korean food like back home; you go into a given place in Koreatown anytime in the afternoon or evening and you'll find old Korean couples hand making dumplings on a table in the corner while they watch Korean TV on satellite. It's very charming.

I've long since grown bored of the normal Chinese food you find most of the time. About the only things that get me excited are good Sichuan or Schezwan or however they choose to spell it dishes. That shit should be spicy, but most of the time it's almost indistinguishable from whatever other MSG sauce they're poring over their noodles. Meh.

Problem is that Chinese restaurants in America have separate menus for people who order in Chinese.

I've long since grown bored of the normal Chinese food you find most of the time. About the only things that get me excited are good Sichuan or Schezwan or however they choose to spell it dishes. That shit should be spicy, but most of the time it's almost indistinguishable from whatever other MSG sauce they're poring over their noodles. Meh.

Problem is that Chinese restaurants in America have separate menus for people who order in Chinese.

This is very true, as I've been told by Chinese people I know. And you can go to one of the Chinatowns and get decent Chinese food if you look hard enough, but I really can't be bothered anymore when I've got Korean food and Vietnamese food being both cheaper and easier to get to. Vietnamese food is also really good, godamn. I know it's politically not-kosher for me to say so, but their time under the French was not entirely wasted; they have some delightful stews, and banh mi is like the greatest thing.

What I think, and what some others do as well, is that our Koreatown managed to get gamjatang so popular by serving it late, especially to club kids, and they're adjacent to at least two popular bar and club districts that will be spilling people out once the bars stop serving. What better option do you have than super cheap Korean food, or to head a little further south for some delicious pho?

That, and like I said, there are a lot of Koreans about.

There are also plenty of Korean places I go to where the servers barely speak English and all the menus and wall signs are in Korean. But if I can find a picture of a bowl of gamjatang to point to I'm still golden.

I've long since grown bored of the normal Chinese food you find most of the time. About the only things that get me excited are good Sichuan or Schezwan or however they choose to spell it dishes. That shit should be spicy, but most of the time it's almost indistinguishable from whatever other MSG sauce they're poring over their noodles. Meh.

Problem is that Chinese restaurants in America have separate menus for people who order in Chinese.

That very much depends on where you go. It's also pretty easy to order from the "secret menu" at most places that do use one if you just tell your server that's what you want.

Ketar on October 2009

Sometimes our strengths lie beneath the surface - far beneath, in some cases - but I'm sure there's more to Ketar than meets the eye!

You either love durian or you hate it - there's no middle ground with Durian.

South East Asians love durians, but those that don't, hate it. Those who like it, love the smell, taste, sweetness, and fluffiness of the fruit. And those who don't, hate all those basically.

Once you've eaten an actual unprocessed raw durian (not ice cream, not juice) and like it, you're hooked for life. If you don't like it, you'll also dislike the thing your entire life.

Most people who like durians also prefer the whole ones with the spiky shell since it keeps the smell and fermentation of the juices inside just right - unlike the frozen ones. Once you've tasted the shelled ones you opened yourself, the frozen ones just don't come close at all.

For those interested in trying out durian, it's better if you are the types of people who appreciate niche food like the nasty smelling cheese (limburger for one). It will taste alien since it doesn't smell nor taste like any fruit you've ever had so your best bet is to prepare eating durian like you're especting to eat natto, goat cheese, limburger, stilton, or marmite.
Don't set your expectation to something like rambutan, lychee, peach, or any of those refreshing fruit.

Interestingly, its not actually like Marmite but a Genetic thing. Most of the people who like it aren't those who appreciate the smell of rotting vegetable matter but actually taste a fairly sweet but water fruit, a bit like a sweeter watermelon apparently. Westerners for the most part lack this gene (but we win far the ability to process alcohol and tolerate diets higher in fat and salt which seems a fair trade) hence why we usually can't stand to even be in the same room as these things.

You either love durian or you hate it - there's no middle ground with Durian.

South East Asians love durians, but those that don't, hate it. Those who like it, love the smell, taste, sweetness, and fluffiness of the fruit. And those who don't, hate all those basically.

Once you've eaten an actual unprocessed raw durian (not ice cream, not juice) and like it, you're hooked for life. If you don't like it, you'll also dislike the thing your entire life.

Most people who like durians also prefer the whole ones with the spiky shell since it keeps the smell and fermentation of the juices inside just right - unlike the frozen ones. Once you've tasted the shelled ones you opened yourself, the frozen ones just don't come close at all.

For those interested in trying out durian, it's better if you are the types of people who appreciate niche food like the nasty smelling cheese (limburger for one). It will taste alien since it doesn't smell nor taste like any fruit you've ever had so your best bet is to prepare eating durian like you're especting to eat natto, goat cheese, limburger, stilton, or marmite.
Don't set your expectation to something like rambutan, lychee, peach, or any of those refreshing fruit.

Interestingly, its not actually like Marmite but a Genetic thing. Most of the people who like it aren't those who appreciate the smell of rotting vegetable matter but actually taste a fairly sweet but water fruit, a bit like a sweeter watermelon apparently. Westerners for the most part lack this gene (but we win far the ability to process alcohol and tolerate diets higher in fat and salt which seems a fair trade) hence why we usually can't stand to even be in the same room as these things.

This is also true of brussel sprouts. People who like them don't taste the horribly bitter thing that the rest of us do.